FSA awards grants to improve restaurant food safety

Nearly £1m in funding has been distributed to local councils by the Food Standards Agency to help 5,000 restaurants, takeaways and other catering establishments improve their food hygiene

Nearly 5,000 restaurants, takeaways and other catering establishments are to be given help in improving food safety by their local councils following the allocation of grants by the Food Standards Agency.

Almost £1m has been distributed among selected local authorities to implement Safer Food Better Business, a scheme designed to help small businesses set up food safety management systems.

This year’s grants have focused in particular on businesses that have been harder to reach previously. In Southampton, for example the grants will be used to target Chinese caterers with a pack created especially for them.

Sarah Appleby, Head of Enforcement Support Division at the FSA said: “This is the third year that we have made the awards and I am delighted that we received so many high-quality applications. The Agency is determined to ensure that eating out is as safe as possible for consumers and a vital part of that is engaging with harder to reach businesses. We will continue to work with partners to improve food safety for all.`

The FSA appealed for applications for grants in May. These were then considered by a panel of representatives from the British Hospitality Association​, local authorities and an academic from Birmingham University.